October 29, 2017

If you’re anything like me, you love pumpkin spice! I know, I know, a lot of people are over the pumpkin spice craze but with so many recipes to try how can you not be intrigued by its deliciousness? I personally think it should be a year-round item and not just seasonal, but it’s not up to me. To fulfill my need for pumpkin I decided to have ‘pumpkin weekend’ at our house to hopefully get it out of my system (between us, it will never be out of my system 😊).

The first item on the menu was Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting. These are life changing and I don’t know if I’ll ever make cinnamon rolls without pumpkin again! The smell of pumpkin and cinnamon fills your house as the rolls bake and for me it brought back some childhood memories because my mom liked to bake so the house always smelled like something tasty!

The recipe itself isn’t too complicated to follow. Don’t let the amount of time needed to make these prevent you from doing so! The longest part is letting the dough rise but you can be doing other things while this happens so really only pay attention to the prep and bake times.

Here’s how you make them:

Makes: 12 Rolls

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Bake Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (includes 1 hour for dough to rise)

ROLL INGREDIENTS

¾ Cups Milk, warmed

1 Tbsp Yeast

2/3 Cup Pumpkin

¼ Cup Butter, softened

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Salt

2 Eggs

4 Cups Flour

¼ Tsp Nutmeg

1 Tsp Cinnamon

FILLING INGREDIENTS

1/3 Cup Butter, melted

1 ¼ Cup Brown Sugar

2 ½ Tbsp Cinnamon

¾ Tsp Ground Nutmeg

¾ Tsp Ground Cloves

½ Tsp Ground Allspice

FROSTING INGREDIENTS

8 Oz Cream Cheese, softened

3 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 Tsp Vanilla

3 Tbsp Milk

DIRECTIONS

In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve your yeast in warmed milk for about 3 minutes.

When the dough starts to pull from the edge of the bowl, remove the dough and knead with your hands for about 5-10 minutes.

Spray a bowl with non-stick spray or drizzle with olive oil, making sure to coat the sides. Place the ball of dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Place in a warm spot to rise for about 45-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sprinkle flour on the counter and roll the dough into a rectangle that is about ¼” thick and 16” wide x 22” long.

Coat the dough with melted butter making sure to completely cover.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the dough, making sure to completely cover. **You don’t have to use all the mixture if you think it is too much.

Roll the dough from top to bottom (it should still be 22” long when this step is done).

Cut the roll into 1-inch slices and place them in a greased pan. You should have 12 slices. **If you have more, that is ok. I like the keep the slices consistent in size, so I end up tossing the end pieces.

Bake for 15 minutes. **You may need to adjust the baking time based on your oven.

While the rolls are baking, make the frosting. Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well mixed and there are no lumps.

Remove the rolls from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. When ready to serve, generously apply frosting to each roll.

The second item on the menu was Pumpkin Alfredo. I love traditional fettucine alfredo because it makes a wonderful side to just about any meal or is a great meal in itself. This is a slight spin on the traditional version with a sweeter, more savory flavor. You can also taste the pumpkin without it being too overpowering.

Here’s how you make it:

INGREDIENTS

1 Pound Fettuccine Noodles (reserve 1 cup of the pasta water)

6 Tbsp Butter

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1/8 Tsp Nutmeg

2/3 Cup Half and Half

½ Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Cook the fettuccine noodles according to package instructions. **Leave the noodles in the water and do not drain. You need to reserve some of the pasta water for the sauce.

In a large pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

Add the half and half, Parmesan, pumpkin, and nutmeg. Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is heated through.

Stir in the pasta water, about ¼ cup at a time, until the sauce is a desired consistency. **You don’t need to use the entire 1 cup the ingredients call for.

Add the pasta and stir until coated. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until everything is heated through.

Garnish with fresh parsley and more Parmesan cheese when ready to serve.

You can eat this by itself or serve it with a nice salad or perhaps some cornbread. We opted to have only the pumpkin alfredo so we could save room for dessert!

That brings me to the third item on the menu, No-Churn Pumpkin Ice Cream. This is super simple, and you don’t need an ice cream mixer to make it! I find this easiest to make with a hand-mixer but if you’re feeling ambitious (and have amazing arm strength) you can also mix by hand.

Here’s how you make it:

INGREDIENTS

8 Oz Heavy Whipping Cream

14 Oz Sweetened Condensed Milk

¾ Cup Pumpkin Puree

1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

½ Tsp Vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Using a hand mixer, whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. **This will take about 10-15 minutes of continuous whipping so give it time!

Add the condensed milk and continue to beat.

Stir in the pumpkin, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice.

Add to a freezer safe container with lid and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

Serve by itself or with crumbled oatmeal cookies.

The flavor is incredible! We chose to break apart some oatmeal cookies as a topping for our ice cream, which made it feel like we were eating pumpkin pie!

I can’t say that these three recipes got the pumpkin craze out of my system but maybe if I tell Andrew they did, he won’t worry about us eating pumpkin everything for the next month (even though we will 😊)!